Pages

Thursday, July 20, 2017

Review & Excerpt: SMITTY'S SHERIFF by Cardeno C.

Smitty’s Sheriff, a sexy, heart-warming M/M romance by Cardeno C. is available now!

Todd is too flakey. Richard is too stubborn. Together, they're perfect. A May-December couple get a second chance at love.

Retired soldier Richard Davis wants a stable life in a quiet town with a forever man. Becoming the sheriff of Hope, Arizona, accomplishes two of his three goals, but instead of finding a serious partner, he falls for too-young-to-be-committed and too-flakey-to-be-serious Todd Smitty. Richard won’t find the right man if he’s obsessed with the wrong one, so he walks away from Todd.

It’s lust at first sight when Todd meets his sister’s army friend. He sets his sights on the worldly, strong, stable older man, and the more time he spends with Richard, the harder he falls. But after three years together, Richard cuts off all contact with no explanation.

When a mutual obligation requires Todd to move into Richard’s house, he’s thrilled at the opportunity to earn a second chance. Ignoring Todd from across town was hard enough. Can Richard resist temptation under his own roof?

Read Today!

(Free in Kindle Unlimited)

Excerpt (just a bit naughty)

“Todd.” Leanne snapped her gaze toward him. “You’re not too young to know the nickname people used to call guys named Richard, are you?“Uh.” Todd blinked and darted his gaze between Rich and Leanne. They were finally paying attention to him and all he wanted was to go back to being invisible.“Dick,” she said. “Big D got his nickname before we met, but some of us in my squad figured it wasn’t just about his last name being Davis. So we had a bet going.”She flicked her gaze to Rich again, as if expecting him to interrupt.He didn’t.“Problem is, we couldn’t agree on which side won because we couldn’t get solid evidence.” She focused on Todd. “But now I have an eyewitness.”“I, uh, I don’t—” Todd stammered, hating being in the middle of what felt like an argument.“Don’t let Sparky get to you,” Rich said, still completely unbothered.“Some of the guys saw Big D in the latrines, and they said he’s big all over, but when they tried to collect on the bet, the other side made a good point.” She narrowed her eyes menacingly at Rich. “If the man’s a show-er, that means he isn’t grow-er, so he doesn’t actually have a big D, now does he? That means the other side should win.”Todd drew his eyebrows together and tried to follow Leanne’s question. “Are you saying you guys have a bet going on the size of Rich’s d*ck?”“Yep.” Leanne leaned against the chairback, looking smug. “And you, little brother, are going to settle that bet.”Normally, Todd had no problem talking about a guy’s package. Hell, in the right situation, d*cks were damn near his favorite topic. But he had never spoken to anyone about Rich’s body or, really, anything else related to Rich because he knew that was off limits. Of course, Leanne was asking him the question because she already knew he had the answer.Flicking his gaze toward Rich, Todd said, “Am I allowed to…”“It’s a simple question,” Leanne snapped. “Is he a grow-er or a show-er?”Rich didn’t tell him to stay quiet so Todd figured he had permission to answer. “Both.”She blinked.“Seriously.” He bobbed his head. “Length, girth.” He held his hands far apart. “It’s awesome.” As long as he had permission to share, he figured he should be thorough in his explanation. “His balls too.”Leanne coughed.“I mean it. They’re huge. Each one’s a mouthful by itself.”“Ehm.” Leanne cleared her throat. “Thanks.” Looking decidedly uncomfortable, she held her palm up in a stop motion. “I’m good on the details. You don’t need to keep going.”“Are you sure?” After a lifetime of being the butt of the joke with his siblings, Todd enjoyed turning the table. “I can sketch you a picture, but I’ll need one of those extra-long pieces of paper if you want it to scale.”“That won’t be necessary.” Leanne actually blushed. “I’m all set.”Rich threw his head back and laughed. “Thanks, Todd. Eighteen years these jackasses have had the silly bet going and I do believe you just put it to rest.”Thrilled with the praise and relieved to be playing and flirting with Rich again, Todd smiled broadly. “No problem. When it comes to your big D, I’m always willing to lend a hand.”He settled into the chair, comfortable for the first time that night, and when the conversation turned back to stories about people he didn’t know, he truly didn’t mind. Eighteen years was a long time. If Rich had cared about putting an end to the bet, he’d probably had a dozen different chances. That he did it now, meant his goal had been less about the bet and more about a point. Todd knew something about Rich that nobody else did, or at least nobody who mattered enough to meet his friends. That meant Todd mattered. Leanne knew that now. And so did he.

Carra's Review

I’m a bit torn about this second chance romance. There’s plenty I liked, other parts that didn’t quite work for me, but overall I did enjoy the story. For me, it all boiled down to the two main characters, Todd and Richard, and the whopping big issue between them-communication. Actually, I should probably write that as COMMUNICATION…you’ll see why when you read it.

I found Todd to be a very sweet young man, a bit on the naive and innocent side (from the standpoint of how he thinks)…almost a little clueless. But while at times you may think he just doesn’t get it, quite often he actually shows that he can logically and methodically deal with the challenges facing him and Richard’s road back to a relationship. He’s the type of person who wants to be cared for, to not have to make decisions. Now that—that is something that Richard’s personality complements a thousand percent.

Richard is a take-charge kind of man, strong and protective, though also jealous and not a good communicator at all. At times it seems like he treats Todd like a child, and Richard makes assumptions without finding out the truth—much to the detriment of his and Todd’s relationship, and not just the first time around. Todd tries very hard to make things work, though Richard’s words and actions continually push back and shoot Todd down at almost every turn.

It’s very easy to see that Todd and Richard are perfect complements to each other, it’s just getting them to the point where they actually communicate with each other that was the source of my frustration while reading this story. I place the blame for this squarely on Richard’s shoulders, because it’s very clear to see that Todd keeps on trying to figure out their problems and get Richard to talk to him, usually to no avail.

While I’m glad things worked out in the end, it was the getting there that drove me a little batty. Smitty’s Sheriff was a 3-star read for me, with Todd’s positive outlook and perseverance along with the appearance of the supporting characters that were featured in the first two books of the series being the bright spots in my reading. This story is meant for readers 18+ for adult language and sexual content.

Start the Series Today!!

McFarland’s Farm

Jesse’s Diner

About Cardeno C.

Cardeno C.—CC to friends—is a hopeless romantic who wants to add a lot of happiness and a few awwws into a reader’s day. Writing is a nice break from real life as a corporate type and volunteer work with gay rights organizations. Cardeno’s stories range from sweet to intense, contemporary to paranormal, long to short, but they always include strong relationships and walks into the happily-ever-after sunset.

Check Amazon for your stuff:

Try Kindle Unlimited!

Amazon

Just so you know...

The legal stuff: Carra Saigh is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.